Generation Y stereotypes have been beaten to death. My generation has been told that we're arrogate, ungrateful, rebellious, stubborn, lazy elitists. That we think we're better than everyone whose come before us, and that we owe the world nothing in return.

Some of these labels have truths, others are just overgeneralizations. When all is said and done, I don't think that my beliefs or attitudes are all that different than that of a 50-year-old Boomer. I just approach things from a different perspective. I'm a doer, rather than a planner. My idealism is that of the individual - I'm not content to wait for others to make things happen, I want to do them myself.

We're a generation of creators, questioners, and doers.

And yet, a lot of people my age aren't doing anything. They don't volunteer their time or contribute to their community in a meaningful way.

The question is why?

In order to find some answers, I sat down with one of the most experienced volunteers that I know, Tom McCarthy. A former teacher with a background in strategic planning and not-for-profit governance, Tom has volunteered with practically every charitable organization in C-K, including the United Way, the Rotary Club of Chatham, the Chatham-Kent Brain Injury Association, and so on.

Tom currently devotes a great deal of his time to the Chatham-Kent Dickens Fellowship, a not-for-profit organization that he feels would benefit greatly from an infusion of younger volunteers and board members.

Alright, it's time for some brutal honesty. I have an honours specialization in English Literature from Western University, which pretty much means I'm a literary nerd. If anyone should want to sit on this board, it's me.

And yet, I don't have the slightest interest.

Now don't get me wrong. I like Dickens. I like Tom. I'm sure the Fellowship involves some great people. But what I don't understand is what exactly would I be doing? Remember a few paragraphs back, where we talked about Gen Y's need to get stuff done?

I don't participate in this organization, (and a handful of others), because to be quite honest, I feel like I wouldn't be doing anything. Sitting on a board sounds kind of ... boring.

And herein lies the problem.

The reasons Generation Y doesn't participate in not-for-profit governance isn't that we don't want to give back. It's not because we're lazy or self-serving. It's because for many, the thought of sitting on a board sounds a lot like pushing paper rather than real accomplishment. How can anything that we discuss around a boardroom table ever affect change out in the real world?

It's a question that I hear from a lot of my peers, and it's one that Caress Lee, the United Way's Youth Leadership Co-ordinator has been tasked with answering. As the staff lead for the Building Community Capacity Through Youth Engagement Project, Caress' job is to work with various not-for-profit agencies and service clubs in the community in order to increase youth participation and engagement, specifically at the board level.

As part of her project, Caress and the United Way have joined forces with the Young Professionals Group of Chatham-Kent in order to present the aptly titled "Boards Aren't Boring" information session, Oct. 25 at the Retro Suites Hotel. This casual networking event will include an hour-long open panel discussion designed specifically to address any misconceptions that young people might have about serving on a not-for-profit board. Panel participants will include board members of all ages and experience levels, like 18-year-old Carley Wilkins.

A member of the local Youth Engagement Partnership and a former member of the Ontario Minister's Student Advisory Council, Carley already has a pretty impressive volunteering resume. Even so, she still feels as though she and her peers are often treated as "token" members of a volunteer organization rather than contributing members.

While Tom has seen younger board members treated as tokens over the years, he argues that this isn't universally true. Organizations that engage in comprehensive orientation programs and ongoing training are far more likely to "morph into successful, relevant organizations."

The upcoming Boards Aren't Boring event will hopefully help initiate more conversations around the issue of youth volunteerism in our community, both from an organizational and individual perspective. Carley, for one, can't wait to participate in the evening's events.

Carley's a doer. She's the poster child not just for my generation, but also for anyone who wants to make a difference in their community.

I'm just glad she's doing it right here in ours.

Chantielle MacFarlane is the 26-year-old president of Inkloyo Ltd., an online content development agency located in downtown Chatham. This column is part of a 12-week project designed to highlight youth perspectives on important topics Chatham-Kent. Contact the writer at chantielle@inklyo.com.